Coupler mechanism for railway vehicles



April 12, 1949. P. F. PAlG ETAL 2,466,860

COUPLER MECHANISMS FOR RAILWAY VEHiCLES Filed Sept. 28, 1945 PR F PAIGE V I PAUL MVOLK Zvwv W Patented Apr. 12, 1949 TENT OFFICE CDUPLER MECHANISM. FOR RAILWAY VEHICLES Paul F. Paig, Monongahela, and Paul M. Volk', Belle Vernon, Pa.

Application September 28, 1945, SerialNo. 619,202

2 Claims.

This invention. relates to improvements in coupier. mechanisms for solid axle vehicles such as open hearth charging buggies and mine and quarry cars and particularly to a. combination draw-bar and coupler mechanism for mine cars and similar. industrial cars.

One object of the invention is to provide a coupler mechanism of comparatively simple, inexpensive construction and; design wherein the draw-bars of two cars are provided with hooksha-ped ends capable of automatically interlock.- ing with one another on trackage having curves running as high as 90 curvature.

More. specifically, the invention contemplates the provision of mechanism in which both coupling members are pivoted for vertical swinging motion on cooperating car bumpers and in which one of said members is allowed a lateral swinging movement with respectto its bumper, said members having hook-shaped ends which will compensate, so to speak, for track curvatures by reason of both of said hook-shaped ends themselves being of arcuate formation transversely of the car bumpers whereby the mechanism of two buggies or cars can be automatically coupled at all times, thus. minimizing the risk of operatives being injured in coupling operations.

Still another object of the invention is to assure a firmv interlockimgv engagement of the hook shaped ends of cooperating male and female couplers. This is attained by forming said coupler ends with undercut, transversely curved surfaces. with the undercut surface of one coupler of convex formation and the other of concave formation. Preferably, the hook-shaped end. of the couplers are also provided with beveled exteriorfaces which initially engage each other in coupling: two carstogether whereby the beveled surface of one coupler will ride over that of the other to facilitate bringing the two couplers into interlocking engagement.

With these and other objects in View the invention consists in certain details of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts, all as will hereinafter be more fully described and the novel features thereofparticularly pointed out in the appended claims.

- In. the accompanying drawings- Figure 1. is atop. planview of the ends ofi two cars: illustrating the present coupler mechanism;

Fig- 2 is a side elevation of the coupler;

Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view on the lines-3 of=-Fig-. 1-; and- Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the line 4 4 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view transversely of the male coupler on the line 5' ':i of Fig. 1'.

In the present instance the coupler members, indicated at I0, H, also serve as radius or drawbars and for this reason they are mounted directly on the tops of the car bumpers. The bump ers comprise top plates l2, I2 on which the coupling members are mounted and the usual front walls I3 but, otherwise, they bumpers may vary in construction depending upon the presence or ab-' sence of draft gear (not shown) and the type of. the'dr'aft gear, if used.

While both coupling members are of hook-like construction, member l-I- will be referred to as the male member and member 19 as the female member for purposes of this description. The femalemember is comparatively broad or wide and is formed at its inner end with slots i l for recep tion of the heads of bolts l5 which project above and are attached to the bumper plate l 2 cotter pins preferably being used to prevent accidentaldisplacement of the bolts. A pivot pin It 8X4 tends transversely through the upwardly projecting bolt heads and the ears formed on member III by" the slots M and" thus the outer end of the? coupler member I 0, which normally rests on plate i2 is permitted a free upward swinging movement in a vertical plane. The inner or rear end of malemember" II is formed with a single slot M for reception of a headed bolt W which is'swiveled in and projects above bumper plate I2. A pivot pin Ili extends transversely through said bolt head and the outer end of this coupler member H, which normally rests on plate I2, is allowed to swing in a vertical plane and as the bolt [i is free to turn in the bumper plate, this male member is alsocapable of swinging in a horizon tal' plane. Hence, the mechanism as a whole is especially adapted f'oruse on vehicles having rig idly supported wheel axles because the male member can not only swing laterally'but the free outer endsiof both couplers are capable ofswingi'n'g verticallyupward from the plates on which they are normally supported.- Lateral swinging. movement of the male member is limited by a cross piece H fast on saidmember and provided with depending ends H adapted to serve as stops when they contact the side edges of bumper plate I-2-'.

The outer or free end of female coupler I0 is in-the form of a hookwith the outer face I! of the hook beveled and inner face [8 undercut forinterlocking engagement with the free end of male coupler II which is'also in the form of" a hook; having a beveled outer face l'l and an undercut inner face l8. Thus, when two cars are moved into coupling position the beveled faces 11, I! of the hook shaped ends of the two elements will ride past each other to permit the male member hook to drop into interlocking engagement with the female member hook. Preferably the member II is provided with a hand grip 19 for facilitating uncoupling of the cars.

As previously stated, female member H1 is quite broad compared with the breadth of male member l l and for the purpose of permitting relative transverse movement of the two members while coupled to compensate for curves in the trackage over which the cars travel and to permit the cars to be automatically coupled while occupying curved portions of the trackage the inner face l8 of member H1 is of concave curvature transversely of said member.

Another feature of the present coupling is the specific formation of the hooked ends of the coupler members or the manner in which the inner faces of the hooked ends of said members are recessed. In view of the fact that the coupler members also function as draw-bars, the hooked ends are produced by forming a comparatively long recess in the top face of the female coupling member ID and dishing the bottom wall 20 of said recess longitudinally of the member. This dished surface of said female member is of segmental shape, describing an arc of approximately 60 and is engaged by the beveled outer face I '1 of the hook of the male member I], said beveled face preferably being of convex formation longitudinally of the member and of a curvature substantially corresponding to that of the dished bottom surface 29. Thus, under buifing conditions, the hooked ends have sufficient amplitude of longitudinal movement to insure their returning to interlocking engagement when the coupling members are again subjected to draft conditions.

The longitudinally dished surface 20 of the female member ID terminates at its forward end at the base of the undercut inner face of the hooked end of the member and to insure firm, intimate contact between the inner undercut surface of each hook with the inner face of the other when subjected to draft strains, the inner face 18 of member If! is not only curved or of concave formation transversely of the member, as previously described but is also of dished or concave formation vertically or longitudinally while the inner face 18 of the hook of male member H is of convex curvature both laterally and longitudinally or vertically. Not only does this specific structure insure intimate contact of the combination coupler and draw-bar members when under draft but it facilitates relative lateral movement of the members when they are under draft and the cars are moving along curved trackage. Preferably, the width of the female coupler is such that the curved edge of the merging inner and outer faces I1, 18 is approximately 90 in length.

In connection with the convex curvature of the inner face It; of the hook of male member II and the concave curvature of face 18 of female member In, it will be further appreciated that this specific formation of these faces permits the same not only to be made of comparatively large area but also insures their intimate contact throughout their entire area. As a result, the members function as draw-bars with maximum efficiency in the Sense that draft strains are dis tributed over a large area as distinguished from the localization of such strains as occurs where coupler hooks have a line or point contact with cooperating coupling members.

Thus, it will be appreciated that the present construction of coupler is not only comparatively simple and inexpensive for production purposes but performs a combination of functions with maximum efiiciency, such as permitting automatic coupling on curved tracks thus eliminating possibility of injury to operatives; compensating for track curvatures and vertical irregularities in trackage while the cars are in motion; and withstanding heavy draft strains while serving as radius or draw-bars without danger of the interlocking hooked ends being fractured or damaged.

What is claimed is.

1. In a coupler mechanism for cars of the character described comprising two bumpers, a male coupler member pivoted at its inner end on one bumper with its outer end free to swing both vertically and horizontally with respect to said bumper, said outer end being of hook-shaped formation with a beveled outer surface and an inner undercut face of convex curvature transversely of the bumper, and a female coupler member having its inner end pivotally mounted on and above the other bumper with its outer end free to swing vertically above said other bumper, the outer end of said female member being of hook-shaped formation and adapted to interlock with the hook of the male coupler, the hook-shaped end of said female member having an undercut inner surface of concave curvature transversely of the bumper, the curvature of the inner surface of the coupler members being formed on corresponding radii.

2. In a coupler mechanism for cars of the character described comprising two bumpers, a male coupler member on one bumper, a female coupler member on the other bumper, said female coupler having its inner end pivotally supported on its bumper with its outer end normally restingon its bumper but free to swing in a vertical plane above its bumper and said male coupler having its inner end pivotally supported on its bumper with its outer end normally resting on its bumper but free to swing in a horizontal plane and in a vertical plane above its bumper, each coupling having a hook-shaped end comprising an outer surface and an undercut inner surface intersecting said outer surface to form a laterally extending edge, the edge and undercut surface of one coupling being of convex curvature transversely of the bumpers and the edge and undercut surface of the other member being of concave curvature transversely of said bumpers.

PAUL F. PAIG. PAUL M. VOLK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,122,734 Grabany Dec. 29, 1914 1,242,810 John Oct. 9, 1917 1,287,459 Schroeder Dec. 10, 1918 1,439,158 Fries et al Dec. 19, 1922 1,500,151 OConnor July 8, 1924 1,601,747 Van Dorn Oct. 5, 1926 2,133,065 Weber Oct. 11, 1938 

